Six: Another is rate of fire. Nearly every firearm in what I'd call "contemporary" times loads multiple rounds at once.
Even on the "slower" ones - where you only get one shot when you pull the trigger - this lets you shoot pretty fast. A bunch of weapons have an "automatic" fire mode, which is to say, you pull the trigger and it'll keep shooting until you let go, or it runs dry.
Not a good idea for fighting at a distance, naturally - guns do kick - but at close quarters the ability to "spray and pray" has quite the effect on people. A gun crackling loudly during automatic fire, the unmistakeable high-pitched whizz of a bullet flying past your head...
We actually use that to our advantage in combat tactics centered around guns. We have "machine gunners", they use very large weapons, lots of ammo loaded. They aren't trained specifically to hit their targets, but to shoot in their general direction. It's called "suppression". Idea being, if you're rational, and a gun's rattling off shots at you, you want to keep your head down until it stops. All it takes to kill you is one bullet in the right place.
edited 19th Jul '17 9:26:26 PM by SpartyMcFly
"Seven is here too, dressed like the concept of choosing clothes that look nice together was an arcane secret far beyond their grasp."Six: Indeed.
The last big one is penetration. A lot of guns use cone-shaped bullets - a fine point on the end. Much smaller than an arrow, true - but they also fly a lot faster. Some of our bigger weapons can fire bullets that travel faster than sound does. Armor that was made to block the heavy and sharp, but slow impact of a sword gets holes punched through it by fast, tiny, and pointy bullets.
For a while armor fell out of fashion. Pointless against a bullet. But our knowledge of metallurgy and fabrics improved, and eventually we managed to build armor that can protect against them. Lightweight "vests", made of a special fiber that can be weaved into a chestplate which'll stop them. Or heavier armor, like what I wear.
But even then, bullets have so much penetrative potential that even with armor, a lot of the time it's usually better to avoid being shot. There's a few guns I've used. You turn them against my breastplate, one that could deflect a sword and only get scratched - and it'd shoot clean through. In one end, out the other.
edited 19th Jul '17 9:32:12 PM by SpartyMcFly
"Seven is here too, dressed like the concept of choosing clothes that look nice together was an arcane secret far beyond their grasp."Six: It depends, really.
It took a long time for guns to become that useful back home. The ones you'd be more likely to see? Sure, they could probably go through your armor like a finger through a brook - but why use them over a bow and arrow?
They're heavy. They're loud. They're finicky and temperamental. They take an eternity to load, and another eternity to shoot. They might not even hit where you aim it. The pepper gets wet? It might not even shoot in the first place. And it's a hell of a lot more difficult to cast a bullet than it is to whittle an arrow.
edited 19th Jul '17 9:35:13 PM by SpartyMcFly
"Seven is here too, dressed like the concept of choosing clothes that look nice together was an arcane secret far beyond their grasp."Six: If I were to be using a sword against a gunfighter?
Stay concealed, take cover. Up close you might want something that could take a horse's buck without giving, but at a distance anything that keeps you from being seen is probably going to keep you from being hit.
Beyond that? Wait. Play defensively. You don't have the range advantage, so you can't push your enemy. You need to make sure that when you do engage them and go for the kill, that you do so on your terms. And if they want safety in the general area, they eventually have to close in and try to take you down.
edited 19th Jul '17 9:40:07 PM by SpartyMcFly
"Seven is here too, dressed like the concept of choosing clothes that look nice together was an arcane secret far beyond their grasp."Six: Once technology advances far enough, it is.
I get the feeling a lack of magic has to do with it as well. I don't have much experience with it, but if you don't have magic and you're using a sword against somebody with a gun... the gunfighter is probably going to win.
"Seven is here too, dressed like the concept of choosing clothes that look nice together was an arcane secret far beyond their grasp."

Momonga: I see. So why not use a bow and arrow? What advantage does this firearm have over that?
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